The wheat was purchased at an average price of $248.16 a tonne and is for arrival periods between April to June, SAGO said.
The wheat will be shipped in ten consignments distributed to three ports with 320,000 tonnes arriving at Jeddah, 250,000 at Dammam and 55,000 at Jazan, Ahmad al-Fares, SAGO governor said in a statement.
Traders said they expected wheat from northern European Union countries to be the main origin supplied.
"I think the wheat in the Saudi tender today will mainly be sourced from North Europe, with Germany and other Baltic Sea region exporters expected to be among the suppliers," one European trader said.
Another trader said that Poland looked too expensive to be a major source in the purchase on Monday.
The offered origins were from the European Union, North and South America, excluding Canada, and Australia.
SAGO gave the following breakdown of the purchase, with prices in dollars per tonne on a cost and freight basis and arrival periods between brackets:
Saudi Arabia buys 625,000 tonnes wheat in tender
(Adds trader comment on likely origins from paragraph five)
DUBAI, March 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's state grain buyer SAGO said on Monday it had bought 625,000 tonnes of wheat in an international tender.
The wheat was purchased at an average price of $248.16 a tonne and is for arrival periods between April to June, SAGO said.
The wheat will be shipped in ten consignments distributed to three ports with 320,000 tonnes arriving at Jeddah, 250,000 at Dammam and 55,000 at Jazan, Ahmad al-Fares, SAGO governor said in a statement.
Traders said they expected wheat from northern European Union countries to be the main origin supplied.
"I think the wheat in the Saudi tender today will mainly be sourced from North Europe, with Germany and other Baltic Sea region exporters expected to be among the suppliers," one European trader said.
Another trader said that Poland looked too expensive to be a major source in the purchase on Monday.
The offered origins were from the European Union, North and South America, excluding Canada, and Australia.